There is something about playing Australia that seems to bring out the best – and the worst – in Stuart Broad, and undoubtedly the chance to extend his impressive record in cricket's oldest and most bitter rivalry has empowered him in Cardiff during the last few days.

Yet there have been signs too that the performance witnessed by a sell-out crowd here might be a new beginning for England’s most explosive fast bowler. He has endured a troubled 18 months in which he has suffered physically and mentally, with questions asked over whether he still justified his place in the Test side.

A persistent problem with tendonitis in his right knee undermined his form last summer, while his confidence was hardly helped when his nose was broken by a bouncer from the India pace bowler Varun Aaron that smashed through his visor.

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Australia celebrate the wicket of Gary Ballance, who was out for a duck

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Nathan Lyon was Australia's best bowler, taking four wickets

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After a poor first innings Ian Bell responded with a half-century to steady the ship

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Ian Bell falls on 60

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Joe Root batted his way to a decent 60

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Joe Root sweeps a shot away in his second innings

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No 10 Mark Wood made an impressive cameo at the end of the day, making 32 runs off just 18 balls

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Mitchell Johnson reacts to a missed chance in the second innings

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Mitchell Starc fields a ball from the boundary

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Mark Wood reverse-sweeps a shot towards Michael Clarke

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Alastair Cook leads England out on day four

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Stuart Broad runs off in celebration after having Chris Rogers caught for 10

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David Warner passes his 50 in the second innings

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David Warner was dismissed by Moeen Ali in the second innings for 52

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Alastair Cook leaps in joy as Moeen Ali traps David Warner lbw

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He had a poor World Cup, although, having undergone surgery for his knee problem only last September, the tournament perhaps came a little soon. Meanwhile, shaken by the death of the Australia batsman Phillip Hughes in November, recurring nightmares over his own head injury led him to see a sports psychologist.

His performances in the Test series against West Indies and New Zealand were unexceptional, yet after being left out of England’s squad for the one-day series against New Zealand, Broad has come back with renewed vigour, physically sound and mentally refreshed.

On his comeback in red-ball cricket on his 29th birthday last month, Nottinghamshire lost by an innings after County Champions Yorkshire made 430, yet Broad took seven for 84, bowling not quite at full pace but with exceptional skill.

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This Test has brought a continuation of that form, as demonstrated in an opening spell yesterday that brought the early breakthrough England needed when Chris Rogers pushed at a rising ball to be caught at second slip. He struck again in his second spell, to devastating effect, as Steve Smith was taken at second slip and Michael Clarke at backward point in the space of 13 deliveries, the Australia captain falling to Broad for the 10th time in Test matches.

Coming two days after the controversy surrounding his overturned dismissal off the bowling of Mitchell Johnson invoked memories of his infamous refusal to “walk” at Trent Bridge in 2013, this was Broad getting under Australia’s skin through nothing but pure ability. The wicket of Clarke was his 70th in Tests against Australia.

Generating speeds in the mid-to-high 80s, it was bowling that offered a glimpse of Broad in his pomp, when he conjured up Ashes-winning performances at The Oval in 2009 and Chester-le-Street in 2013.